Patrick Whitman, a student in the COPE program, jokes around with the audience while delivering a poem during Thursday's "Telling It" event.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Patrick Whitman always wanted a little brother. And when he got his wish last January, he said everything changed. Not just within his close family unit, but within himself - now it was to make good decisions and set an example.

So it was no surprise what the 16-year-old chose to write about when instructors at Ypsilanti's Center for Occupational and Personalized Education (C.O.P.E.) program asked students to express their feelings on the people or events that had a significant and lasting impact on their lives.

"When you were born, I realized that someday, somebody would actually look up to me as an example of a man," Whitman read to 11-month-old Cole, who was among a crowd of more than 2 dozen students, teachers and parents gathered Thursday afternoon at C.O.P.E.'s headquarters in the Ardis Building.

"I always thought that I wouldn't get this feeling for years, and that my kids would put that warm feeling in me" Whitman said. "You are my brother, and I will protect and look over you for the rest of my existence."

Whitman's words, which drew a collective "awwww" and feverish applause from the audience, were but one example of the heartfelt and sometimes raw expressions shared by roughly a dozen students in the program's 3rd annual "Telling It" event. Using poetry, raps, essays and short films crafted over the entire fall semester, these students showcased their talents and courage by presenting some of their deepest and most powerful thoughts of difficult issues in public.

It's all part of the process of keeping kids who aren't doing well from falling through the cracks, said Bob Coller, C.O.P.E.'s executive director.

C.O.P.E. is an alternative education program that works closely with students to mitigate the behavioral, academic, and sometimes social issues that prevent them from being successful in more traditional school settings, he said. The students are referred by area school districts and the juvenile court system and are helped in the hope of returning to their regular classes.

The initiative is funded collaboratively through local school districts, the University of Michigan's Residential College and private donors. It serves about 100 students ranging in age from 10 to 17 over a year's time.

The "Telling it" presentation was added 3 years ago by Deborah Gordon-Gurfinkel, a lecturer from the U-M Residential College. She coordinates the annual event while teaching a course on empowering communities through the arts. A handful of her 20 students act as interns within the class to help the younger students develop their projects.

"We use creative arts to improve and empower the young people who work with us," Gordon-Gurfinkel said.

And the groups become intimately close, using their untapped skills in writing, photography, videography and music to delve into personal matters ranging from hate and discrimination to overcoming grief and perceptions of self-worth.

For one hour a day throughout the semester, the students meet to work on their writing and project ideas. They receive academic credit, but don't call it a class.

"It started as a class, but it became a lot more than that," Whitman said. "When we're in this room we were in like a 'safe zone' and, through art, they helped us get through a lot of issues we have."

Executive Director Coller said the exercise allows the students a creative outlet they otherwise would not take advantage of.

"Our kids are usually on the fringe and don't get involved or are interested in the arts or in writing. So this is really the first time that they have to express themselvees, and you really see it come out," he said.

That emotion came through Patrick Whitman Thursday. Even though he has a reputation as a "ham" with an outgoing personality, his presentation left his mother with a wide smile and prideful tears.

"I'm really very proud of what he's accomplished and is able to express," Chantal Whitman said. "He was never a bad kid, but he just wasn't focused and now that's the biggest change."

Art Aisner is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com.